Get to Know Jennifer Morikawa, Your Region H Governor!

Jennifer (Jenny) has been a SWE member for over 10 years. She is a Life member and a part of the SWE-Detroit Section, where she served as the FY05 & FY06 Section President, Vice President of Outreach, Section Representative, Secretary, and Fund Development Chair. On the Society level, she has served on the Awards & Recognition Committee since 2006 including Chair in FY12, Student Activities Committee from FY04-FY05, and the Program Development Grants Committee from FY09-FY11. Jenny has been active in Region H as Secretary, Region Council, Lt. Governor and FY13-FY14 Governor. She received the honor of SWE Distinguished New Engineer in 2008.

Jenny has an MS degree in Intedisciplinary Engineering with a minor in Engineering Quality, Reliability, Durability from Purdue University and a BSE in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan. She has worked for General Motors for over 10 years and is a Senior Manufacturing Engineer working as a Business Manager for GM’s Manufacturing Engineering Global Vehicle Systems.

Jenny lives in Livonia, MI (Metro Detroit) with her husband Robert and 3.5 year old, Jason. She enjoys scrapbooking and photography.

Why did you apply for Region H Governor?

Region Governor is a BIG job with having opportunity to be strategic and tactical (big idea generator, and hands-on follow through) as well as the opportunity to interact, and manage a lot of people remotely. I wanted to take on the challenge to test myself and gain an experience I might not get to in my career. I also enjoy the opportunity to formally and informally mentor and encourage others to grow on a personal and professional level. At this level, I knew I would get to meet some amazing women and men to inspire as well as I would be inspired.

What does SWE mean to you?

SWE has been a big part of my life. The organization and the people in the organization gave me opportunities, encouragement, technical and leadership skills, and of course friendship. I was a very strong introvert and now I am a little more of an extrovert with some introvert tendencies because of SWE. I can credit SWE for helping me get my internship from GM because I had to learn Microsoft Access Database for a few of my SWE positions at UofM-Ann Arbor. It was a skill that most people did not have at the time and they needed someone with those skills. I have received recognition and support at GM because of my SWE involvement. SWE has also helped me fulfill my personal goal of being a manager as I have been able to lead and influence small and now a large group of people.